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Idaho Hitchhiker Charged With Attacking Driver With Ashtray

An Idaho man is cooling his heels in a Montana jail cell following a road rage incident that involved only one autombile.

The Missoulian reports that a motorist gave two hitchhikers, 48-year-old Michael Miller and his girlfriend, a lift July 14 while driving Highway 200. But police said the driver wasn't able to negotiate some of the mountain passes between Montana and Idaho. According to court records, after asking the driver where he was going, Miller "began choking [the driver] and hitting him with a heavy crystal ashtray that was in the van."

Montana law enforcement later found the driver bleeding in his van, while Miller and the girlfriend took off on foot.

A short time later, police picked up Miller, who initially claimed that the driver tried to kidnap the girlfriend, but officers said Miller appeared to under the influence of drugs. He's behind bars, charged with felony assault with a weapon. Bail is set at $10,000.